A Giannis Antetokounmpo trade has seemed inevitable for a while now, but ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported today that talks “have intensified.”
“This league finally believes this is going to happen,” Windhorst noted, also adding that the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics remain favorites to land Antetokounmpo, but especially the former would have to involve other teams because “the Bucks don’t love the Heat’s offer.”
The Raptors were connected to Antetokounmpo in the past, but he and Scottie Barnes are too similar to make pushing in all their trade chips for the two-time MVP make sense. However, if the Bucks trade Antetokounmpo, they may also be ready to move on from some of their other veterans, like Myles Turner, who would be a great addition for the Raptors and someone fans have had their eyes on for a while. With trade talks apparently heating up, Turner could finally become a real possibility instead of just a player on an offseason wish list.
The Raptors are reportedly looking for a center upgrade and have expressed interest in the Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson. Turner, who can space the floor, makes much more sense than Robinson for a team that lacks outside shooting as much as the Raptors.
Myles Turner would be a great frontcourt fit in Toronto
Between Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles, the Raptors have a ton of defensive versatility in the frontcourt. Offensively, they were much more limited this past season. Sandro Mamukelashvili was the only real 3-point threat out of those three and Jakob Poeltl in the regular season, but he put together a disappointing first playoff series.
Barnes is a versatile offensive player in the sense that he can score at a high level and facilitate the ball. He is also 30.4% 3-point shooter for his career, though, and would benefit from better spacing around him.
Turner could provide that. He is a 36.5% shooter for his career and shot 38.3% on 5.4 attempts per game in his first season with the Bucks while also averaging 1.6 blocks per game. He would boost the Raptors’ production on both ends of the floor.
The 30-year-old would, without a doubt, be a much smoother fit than Poeltl and a more proven playoff contributor than Mamukelashvili, given his past performances with the Indiana Pacers.
He is also on a pretty big contract, though, and, like other teams across the league, the Bucks may not be super excited about bringing Poeltl to town in a trade—although, if they enter a lengthy rebuild (depending on what they can get for Antetokounmpo), they should be more inclined to do so than most other teams.
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